My New 72"x20"x20" Tank Build
 

Finally after a bunch of set backs, I have finally started my new build! I have never really done a heck of a lot of DIY stuff, so go easy on me...especially the woodworking!

Anyways, heres the story. My fiance and I have moved 3 times in the past year. It has been a disaster for my poor fish. I have 2 large puffers and eel who need a big, big tank. We moved into a really, really nice basement apartment so that I could set up a 220G tank for them. Long story short, the owners sold the house and we had to leave because although the new people were renting out the suite, they did not want such a big tank in their place. Fair enough I guess. We moved back into our old building (luckily I am friends with the owner) and actually got a nicer suite. BUT we could not set up the 220G because its on the second floor. My brother is now using the 220G. I needed a tank that would be suitable for my puffers but not much more than 100G, so the footprint of the tank was important. I came up with 72"x20"x20" being about the best I could do. I was about to build it in acrylic with my father but then found almost the exact same tank from a member here! It turned out great. It will by no means be ideal for my big puffers but I am not willing to give them up and Im confident it will give them enough room.

This is what I want this tank to be...Heavily planted with macro algae and mushrooms, very natural looking and I really do not mind a bit of what people usually consider nuisance algae. Stuff like bubble algae. I really want a lot of growth in this tank! Any suggestions for macro algae or "stuff" in general to add would be great! No corals though besides mushrooms or anything my puffers will leave alone and need little care. I may add xenia but I hate how quickly that stuff takes over a tank!

All the flow for the tank will be from a large return pump and closed loop. I do not want any equipment visible. Had a bit of a drilling problem, so now I think the sump and refugium will be rubbermaids!:wink:

Heres a list of what I have so far followed by many pics!

72"x20"x19" Eurobraced Tank
30G Sump
30G refugium
PM Bullet 2 Skimmer
4 x 80 watt retro fit T5 with individual reflectors (320 watts total)
Sequence 1100 series 6000 GPH Pond Pump for closed loop
Mag 24 Return pump
$600 or so in plumbing:neutral:
DIY stand
DIY canopy
Aqua Controller JR.

2 large puffers sick of QT (QT'd separately)
1 large eel also sick of his QT (at least he has sand though!)
200 lbs. LR sick of rubbermaids
Many headaches already!

Here are some camera phone pics...The kinda woodwork sucks, I know:sad: but I am limited to mostly all hand tools right now. The stand and canopy will be primed white and if we like it, will be painted white. If not, black it is!

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Like the picture with the tankful of fittings.

Measure twice, cut once, dry fit everything and have fun.

Thanks mark. Well you guys here have really helped me get this thing planned out. I should have everything I need now and I know I have extra PVC. I will be dry fitting it all this week and will post pics to get advice.

Do you have a PVC pipecutter? Those things are worth their weight in gold when it comes to these plumbing projects. Way easier & cleaner than with a hacksaw.

Yeah I just picked one up today! I had cut about 3 lengths of the 2" PVC with a hacksaw and mitre box and decided enough was enough...Way too slow and hard to keep the cut really nice. Tried a quick cut tonight with the new cutter and its not as fast as I had thought it would be but perfect cut.

I see Krylon PVC spraypaint.....a product I know very well!

Yeah! Krylon! Not sure if Im using it much anymore but it was for the back of the tank. Thing is, I want to one day be able to use this tank as a room divider because it is drilled perfectly for one. If I paint the back black, that may not work so well!

Leave the option open. The back wall will get covered in coraline if you don't clean it anyway.

If you have access to a mitre saw, I have found that to be the easiest way to cut lengths of PVC using a standard rip/cross-cut blade.

As far as the background is concerned, I use black plastic posterboard slipped between the upper and lower frames of the tank. No mess and much easier to remove than paint.

Holly crap, look at the size of that Pump and Skimmer

Yeah the skimmer is a decent size but its that pump that Im still amazed by! Its huge! 300 watts too, so a LOT of power consumption. Hope it end up being worth it. I refuse to use powerheads this time around.

Hope the pump is fairly quiet:cry:

Yeah I hooked up the pump when I got it for a test and its way quieter than I thought. Once its in the stand it should barely be heard...

I want to build some rock columns using rods and drilling the LR. What do you guys recommend I use for the rods and where did you get them? I want something not too thick. Im not really interested in using PVC either.

I will post some updated pics of this project soon. I have finished off the stand and canopy besides the doors which will be attached with magnets to keep things really easy. Its all primed and ready for paint which will be done tonight! The stand and canopy will be white, which I do not see too often with aquariums. Really works well in our living room.

I have also finished wiring and mounting the lights and man they are BRIGHT! Im super impressed so far with the T5's. Much nicer coverage than halides and way less watts. VERY nice coloring with the Giesemann daylight and actinic bulbs.

Im going to do the same thing with rock columns but i think (not sure yet) im going to go the pvc route. For the base i plan on using an H shape, and a straight pvc piece attached to the middle. This way i can have a stable base and just put rocks over top of the base to cover it. I was also thinking of using plastic rods.

Acrylic rod maybe?

What kind of plastic rods are safe in the aquarium? I have had a hard time finding anything that would be safe.

Some pics...

My camera phone really cannot pick up the brightness of the lights but here goes:


Actinics:

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...h/DSC00517.jpg

Actinics/Daylight:

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...h/DSC00518.jpg

Stand/Canopy without doors (needs to be painted white, this is just primed):

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Another update with regards to the plumbing...I tried drilling the sump and it cracked very easily. I spoke to a glass place first and they had told me to be very careful drilling 1/4" glass because its so thin. I know many people do it with no problems but mine cracked. Not really sure why but anyways, I am back to my original idea of using rubbermaid containers. I already have a few but want a bigger one I think. Problem is, I keep finding ones that are perfect but made of PP. Im not even sure what PP is but I thought it pretty much has to be HDPE to be safe. Anyone?

After doing a bit of research, looks like PP is used for food packing, so maybe safe for a sump???

Sorry acrylic like tony said. Not really sure where to get it at this point, but if you find out let me know. :biggrin:

I ended up just getting the fiberglass parking poles from Canadian Tire for real cheap. I will post a pic of how it goes in a few days.

Just did a quick "test" with some dried out LR I have laying around. I am going to paint the rods with Krylon Fusion paint so they are not yellow but I thought I would take a picture with the yellow so you can really see the rod.

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cool..cant wait to see the finished product

I went to HD today and got some nice Zip ties to support the plumbing and keep it from hanging off the bulkheads and stressing them. Thats all I went for but why do I always end up leaving with a $100 plus receipt???

Anyways, does anyone think I should put a protective acrylic shield just under the T5's? I have some 1/4" acrylic laying around and was thinking about it. It would be a bit of a pain to install but probably could be done. Would the acrylic warp or melt though? I know its a bad idea with MH's but Im not sure about T5's. I was just thinking that even to keep the moisture off the reflectors, bulbs and wiring would be nice. What do you think?

I also picked up some of the foam used under carpeting for under the pumps. Its the stuff kind of like yoga mats I guess but thicker. I figure I will triple it up and see if that gets rid of all the vibration.

I will post a pic of the dry fit plumbing when Im closer to being done and get everyones advice.

Oh and I measured the tank today to see how big I will end up making the pillars and realized the tank is taller than I was told. Its not 19" but 20". So with those dimensions, I guess the tank is a 125G, not 110. Either way, its pretty shallow and I think it will looks cool with a few tall pillars that reach the surface. Im only using 2 tall ones and a short one in the display and then the rest of the rock will be in the fuge and sump. I want a very open tank for the puffers to swim freely.

Now for a few work in progress plumbing pics. I have the overflow return to refugium and sump pretty much dry fitted and ready to cement as long as I (or anyone else for that matter) do not see issues with it. Basically the "herbie" overflow is controlled by the 2" gate valve right under the bulkhead there and then the return tees to the refugium (right) and sump (left). The refugium is reduced down to 1.5" flex PVC and flow is controlled with a 1.5" ball valve. Right now I only have the 1 2" union but I may add another. The sump drain will not be left like that, it will have PVC running down into the sump, Im just holding off on that at the moment. As you can see in the first pic, the overflow is not built yet. I want to get the plumbing worked out and then I will go buy the glass for it. I still need to build the emergency drain but will not do so until I build the overflow so I know the height that is needed. The emergency drain will just go into the sump but water will fall a bit, splashing to let me know that for whatever reason, the emergency drain has been needed.

Anyways, let me know if you catch anything I miss...

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I also kind of started to think about how the closed loop would be plumbed. Still not sure yet but I am trying my best to avoid over the back! I think I will go through the extra bottom bulkhead I have and then up to the eurobracing. I took a picture of how I think I will have the return get up to the top. It will be painted black and also have a rock column in front of it, so it will not look too noticeable I don't think.

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I guess the one thing that may happen is that the flow on the left side will be much weaker because the return would be on the right side. BUT the mag 24 return from the sump will be on the left, so I think that will even it all out. What do you think?

Im also wondering if I do it this way how to have the outlets. Im thinking about 6-8 but Im not sure. Its a big 6000 GPH pump, so I think it could easily handle 8. The head loss is just under 5' and no 90's until it hits the top "t". The outlet of the pump will be directly below the bulkhead.

What would you do with the 2" outlets? Leave them just as 2" 45's or 90's? I do not want to restrict a lot of flow coming out of them. Im kind of lost right now on this...

I would upgrade that gate valve you have on the Herbie drain. I think what you have there is called a knife valve, and I don't think you'll get the fine adjustment that you want from it.

I could be wrong, but most gate valves have round, screw-type handles like this. I know that on my system, an adjustment of almost immeasurable rotation causes an effect.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...0_0484copy.jpg

I realize that you haven't built the overflow box yet, but your plumbing mock up shows the primary (Herbie) overflow intake as being quite high in the tank. You don't want that. That line should just be a bulkhead right on the bottom of the tank.

Your emergency flow drain should have a vertical riser like that. The surface will be skimmed by the overflow box, and the water level in the overflow box will be between the bottom of the tank and the level of the emergency overflow.

The closer to the top of the overflow box that you run the water level (controlled by your gate valve), the quieter the overflow box because the only noise is the water falling from the tank surface down to the water level in the overflow box.

Optimally, you will want the water in the overflow box to be almost as high as the tank surface, with the emergency drain standpipe, just higher than that.

Finally...consider using the Herbie AGAIN for the water that drains from the refugium into the sump. As is, you'll have silent flow right from the tank to the refug and sump, but the water that drains from the refug to the sump might be noisy. Use the hole you've already made as the emergency, and create another bulkhead at the bottom and run it as a Herbie. That's what I did and it works perfectly.

There are actually quite a few similarities between what you are doing there and what I have already done. You are welcome to drop by and examine and listen to plumbing, if you like. (I don't know how close you are to Coquitlam...)

Untamed, thanks for all the advice! I just read it quickly but I will read it again slower later on. Your right about the gate valve...I was ****ed when I ordered some of my plumbing online and it arrived much different than what I expected! The main thing was those gate valves, that are not actually gate valves! Im going to have to find a proper gate valve tomorrow.

Thanks again for the advice and I will use the herbie method for the connection between the refugium and sump. Thanks for the heads up on that. That should also keep any bubbles from getting into the sump from the refugium.

I checked JL and ocean Aquatics but neither have 2" Gate Valves. I know Home Depot and Rona do not either. Anyone know where I can get one? It has to be easy to get to though because I have no car right now. Im in Vancouver.

Gate valves
 

hey if your still looking for large gate valves check out the plumbing supply stores...ie hillcrest plumbing on kingsway.....or B.A. Robinson.

Yeah thanks, I will call Hillcrest tomorrow. I am still looking. I need to get this gate valve by Thursday if possible.

Untamed, for the refugium to sump "herbie", do you think a ball valve would be accurate enough? I agree that for the overflow drain, I need a proper Gate Valve but I was thinking that for the reugium one, a ball valve would do...maybe not though.

re: Ball valve directing flow to refugium...

I'm thinking that a ball valve will work fine for that application. It will be a bit crude to adjust the flow into the refugium, but once you get it set you'll be fine if you just leave it alone. You'll then be able to fine tune the water exiting the refugium with a gate valve.

As the Herbies don't allow any air into the lines, you can always have the pipes exit silently below water line. That also avoids splashing and bubbling which results in less salt creep everywhere.

Can't say nothing about the Herbie as but to listen to Untamed as he's experienced with running one.

For the return you should be able to reduce pipe diameter one size to make a little more manageable after the top Tee, build a manifold (such as like here) to even out flow and with multiple outlet not have a great loss.
RC calculator might be a guide.

Do yo mean for the closed loop return or sump return? I think your talking about the closed loop right?

If you are, you say it should be fine to reduce down to a 1.5" PVC after the first "T"? That may help out a lot actually. In a way...Its kind of a weird situation and heres why...

The closed loop pump has a 1.5" outlet. The bulkhead that the return is going through is 2". I figured this is good because I always hear its good to go up a size anyways. So like I said, I figured it would work well if I went from 1.5" at the outlet to 2" right away and then through the bulkhead and used a 2" manifold. As I said though, the 2" manifold is a bit tricky to manage. So your idea to reduce down to 1.5" seems good. Maybe I should just use to reducers right around the bulkhead? So basically the pump goes to the bulkhead at 1.5" and goes through at 2" and then goes back to 1.5". Seems kind of weird but I can't change the 2" bulkhead at this point. Any thoughts???

Yeah I love the "herbie" style for that exact reason, you can keep bubbles out of the system easily. Well if I can find some gate valves for a decent price, I may do all gate valves instead of the ball valve for the refugium but Im getting to the point where I cannot spend too much more on this tank. All the little trips to Home Depot or Canadian Tire for something small have added up and I just looked at the bills...almost $500 AFTER I thought I had everything already! Anyways, I can't pay $40 for 1.5" gate valves and $50 for 2" which is what I have seen them selling for online so far. Hopefully I can find some cheaper locally.

Ya, you can reduce the loop pipe diam from what your vertical lift pipe diam is after a T. Just like in drains, you cna go down 1 pipe size when using 2 pipes. So, 2". you can go to 1.75 or 1.5 on a closed loop manifold. Acctually, you can reduce the size after every T in the manifold. As long as they are even on each side of the main inlet T. Remember, your loosing GPH flow in the manifold after every tank outlet, so no need for the whole manifold to be the same size as the inlet. There will be a point in the manifold where the water will acctually be still, where water form the left and rigth sides meet, and basically stop. I did mine with a outlet in the center, where I belive the water will meet, so hopefully to not get stagnent section of the manifold. Weather it worked or not, that remains to be seen

Also, if your pump has a 1.5" outlet, you may be better off to keep the rise pipe form sump to tank that size. Increasing the vertical pipe to larger will add more water in the vertical colum, thus more weight. More weight the pump has to lift, the more head pressure the pump will see, the less GPH it will flow. On Horizontal, and bends, larger is better, but not uphill. Just ask any Firefighter. I'd much rather haul the 1.5" hose up 3 storys than the 2.5"

Just changing the pipe pump outlet pipe to 2" for the bulkhead will be fine, and I think, would be the best bet

Yeah I do understand the concept of increasing adding weight and pressure but I hear a lot of times that these pumps preform much better when increased by 1/2". The main issue here is that I HAVE to increase to 2" no matter what to go through the bulkhead. I have no choice there. Its just a matter of when. I was going to increase to 2" right away near the outlet and keep the manifold at 2" (still may). Otherwise, I think I will increase to 2" right away and then after the top "t", reduce down to 1.5".

I do understand what you are saying but there was also a specific reason people increase the pipe size on these pumps I just forget why:redface:

I know for sure that Mag pumps should always be plumbed with a size bigger pipe. The manufacturer states that themselves.